This story ran in the Friday print edition of The Birmingham News, The Huntsville Times and The Mobile Press-Register.

TUSCALOOSA, Alabama -- Mal Moore's legacy as Alabama athletics director didn't stop when he stepped down from the position Wednesday.

It
simply carried on Thursday when Moore's hand-picked successor,
71-year-old former Alabama player under Paul "Bear" Bryant, college football head coach and
multi-million dollar entrepreneur Bill Battle, received the university's
recommendation to pick up where Moore left off as the $100 million
program's athletics director.

The
University of Alabama System trustees will meet via conference call
today at 10 a.m. to vote on a recommendation that's anticipated to be
unanimously passed.

"When
it became apparent that I was no longer going to be able to direct the
athletics department, I felt that Bill Battle was the one person who
could sustain all the good things that have happened the past few years
while also moving us forward with planned improvements," Moore said in a
university statement.

The
73-year-old Moore has been hospitalized with pulmonary problems for
more than a week at Duke University Medical Center in Durham, N.C. When his recovery is
complete, Moore, who was named Thursday as Alabama's Athletics Director
Emeritus, will assume a role as UA president Judy Bonner's special
assistant.

"Bill
is a man of unimpeachable integrity who understands the heritage and
tradition of The University of Alabama," Moore said. "He has been a
friend of mine since we were teammates and an individual who has always
gone beyond the call of duty in helping the athletics department during
my tenure as its director.

"I
personally recommended Bill to Dr. Bonner for this job knowing he will
appropriately support our coaches in their efforts to bring championship
teams home to Tuscaloosa and ensure that our student-athletes earn
their degrees and represent the Crimson Tide in the same manner that
Bill did as a player and as an alumnus."

Bill Battle

Since
Bryant's tenure, Bob Bockrath (1996-99) was the only Alabama athletics
director to have no previous affiliation with the program and not been a
coach at some point during his career.

Battle,
71, was an end on Bryant's first national championship team
and has stayed closely affiliated with the university throughout his
post-coaching business career as a board member for the Bryant-Jordan
Student-Athlete Foundation, The University of Alabama A-Club Educational
& Charitable Foundation and Crimson Tide Foundation.

Battle,
a Birmingham native, said in a university statement that his initial
instinct was to decline the offer because of his "mixed emotions"
regarding Moore's health.

"The
University of Alabama is at an all-time high in athletics, academics
and most every other way, and I am deeply honored to be asked to serve
in the position of athletics director," Battle said. "It is an
extraordinary challenge and a responsibility that I take very seriously.
I will do my dead-level best to continue the successes on and off the
playing fields that Alabama fans have enjoyed over the past few years."

Like Moore, Battle's legacy is three-tiered -- and the third stage is ultimately where he found the most success.

After
a seven-year stint as Tennessee's head coach -- which began with a
victory against Alabama in his first season and ended with Vol fans
placing "For Sale" signs on his front yard -- spent six years working
for Circle S Industries in Selma. He held titles of president for two
different companies within the organization as well as vice chairman of
the board.

In 1981, Battle became Bryant's agent.

Inspired
by the overwhelming number of requests from businesses hoping to use
Bryant's likeness on their products, Battle founded Collegiate Licensing
Company. Battle made Alabama his first client and Ole Miss soon
followed suit, according to a 2012 Sports Business Journal article. The
company's client base eventually grew to more than 200 universities,
bowl games, conferences and other entities.

In
2007, he sold the company to International Management Group (IMG) for
more than $100 million, according to Sports Business Journal. Collegiate
licensing is now a $4.6 billion industry.

"He
took a company and took it to the top," said former NFL quarterback
Archie Manning, who worked closely with Battle on the National Football
Foundation College Hall of Fame board. "He'll do a great job. He'll just
pick right up what Mal's been doing."

Bill Battle was named to Alabama's All-decade team for the 1960s. (Photo courtesy of Paul W. Bryant Museum)

Battle
received a slew of different honors for his business accolades,
including a 2008 induction into the International Licensing Industry
Merchandisers' Association Hall of Fame, a 2010 induction to the
National Association of Collegiate Marketing Administrators Hall of Fame
and a 2008 award from the National Football Foundation for his
"outstanding contributions to amateur football."

"Bill
was accommodating to everybody," said Bill Oliver, a former Alabama
assistant coach who was also Battle's teammate. "Business was business,
pleasure was pleasure, recreation was recreation. He's just well-liked
by everybody. Just good, solid, solid, down to earth."

Battle
was a three-year starter at end from 1960-62. He was named to Alabama's
all-decade team and inducted into the Alabama Sports Hall of Fame in
1981.

Battle
began his coaching career in 1963 as a graduate assistant at Oklahoma
under Bud Wilkinson. From 1964-65, he was an assistant coach for the
United States Military Academy as he simultaneously served a two-year
tour. In 1966, he landed at Tennessee as an assistant coach.

At
the age of 28, Battle took over as the Vols head coach in 1970. Over
seven seasons, he went 59-22-2 and won four bowl games. His tenure ended
unceremoniously, as he was forced out following a 6-5 campaign and
replaced by Johnny Majors.

Bill Battle's seven-year run at Tennessee ended in 1976, when the Vols went 6-5. (Photo courtesy of Paul W. Bryant Museum)

Bryant
had Battle's number throughout the 70s. After losing the initial
meeting, 24-0, Alabama won the next six by an average score of 28-12.

According
to Sports Business Journal, Battle would routinely come home and see
"For Sale" signs scattered throughout his yard. Once, there was a moving
van.

"Bill
got let go from Tennessee basically for one reason: not whipping
Alabama," said Tommy Brooker, a former teammate of Battle's.

At
71, Battle would become one of the SEC's oldest athletics directors.
Those close to Battle said he's in "great shape" and looked much younger
than he appeared.

During
his final few years as athletics director, Moore handed over the
day-to-day management of the department to his executive director of
athletics. From 2008-2011, it was Dave Hart, who is now the vice
chancellor of athletics at Tennessee. The position is currently held by
Shane Lyons, a former associate commissioner at the ACC.

"When
you've got money, you can hire people to help you and make it easier,"
Brooker said. "Hey, that's what they've been doing. The more money
you've got, the easier the job. Alabama's got plenty of money, and
they're fixing to make more."

Condredge
Holloway, the SEC's first African-American quarterback whom Battle
recruited to Tennessee in 1970, said Battle looked younger than most of
his former players -- "except for all that white hair he has" -- when
they gathered at his 2011 induction into the Tennessee Sports Hall of
Fame.

"He's
full of life and he's full of joy," Holloway said. "He's going to
attack it full-bore. I don't expect anything but positive."